The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 58 Innocence
Bernard King does indeed have special training techniques, and his guidance on footwork greatly benefited Gan Guoyang.

Gan Guoyang tirelessly practiced what seemed to be the simplest layup drills, repeatedly practicing different postures, angles, and techniques.

The training process was tedious, boring, and even unbearably dull, with people performing the same set of movements like puppets on strings.

Bernard King suggests adding fun games or special methods to training to make it more accessible.

Gan Guoyang refused, saying, "This is already very interesting."

Bernard King shook his head, looking at the tall and agile Gan Guoyang, who was as quick and nimble as a small forward. He was once again certain that UCLA must have lost its mind.

“He is more talented than Albert. But he works harder than Albert, and even more hard than me.”

King thought of his younger brother, Albert King, who was considered by people in the New York area to be more talented than Bernard.

In this year's NBA draft, he followed in his brother Bernard King's footsteps, being selected 10th overall by the New Jersey Nets (Bernard King was selected 7th overall by the Nets in 1977).
However, Bernard King, the older brother, has overcome his struggles and become an NBA All-Star.

Whether Albert King can catch up with his brother depends on his own efforts and opportunities.

Bernard King thought that if Albert could work as hard and focus on basketball as Gambit, surpassing him with his talent wouldn't be a problem.

The problem is that playing in the greater New York area isn't necessarily a good thing, especially for rookies whose hometown is New York. Being too close to home can make players become complacent in their familiar environment, lacking a sense of urgency and motivation to move forward.

Bernard King recalled that when he played in New Jersey, he would drive to Manhattan after every home game.

He suddenly made a lot of money and signed a huge contract that he never dared to dream of before. He felt like a celebrity in New York and had to go to Manhattan to have fun.

One night, he got completely drunk with his friends and passed out. Knicks player Dean Meminger, who was also present, took him to his apartment and drove his car downstairs. He didn't wake up until the next day and drove home on his own.

If this hadn't happened, Jin could very well have been driving under the influence and crashed and died on the road.

But Jin didn't learn his lesson. From then on, he became addicted to alcohol, even taking a sip while driving, which led to him being stopped by the police and taken to the police station.

Alcohol made him irritable. In a game against the Pistons in 1978, he got into a fight with Bob Lanier and threw the ball at Lanier's stomach.

Lanier charged at him with his fist raised. Knowing he would be killed if he took that punch, King stepped back to avoid it, but ended up hitting a spectator on the sidelines, causing a child to injure his ankle.

The officiator for that game was Dick Bavetta (who was 39 years old that year). The Nets committed 66 personal fouls (34) and 10 technical fouls (8) against the Pistons. Three players were ejected, and four fouled out.

This is a scene from the chaotic NBA landscape of the 70s, where Bernard King is a young man struggling in the murky waters, lost and confused.

Pulling himself out of his memories, Bernard King watched as Gan Guoyang continued his footwork training diligently. They had known each other for over half a year, and King had never seen Gan Guoyang go to bars, nightclubs, or places of ill repute.

He was always playing ball, playing ball, and playing ball again, as if all the joy in the world could be found in playing ball.

Bernard King once asked Gan Guoyang, "Besides playing basketball, what other hobbies do you have?"

Gan Guoyang answered readily, "I can also cook."

With the idea of ​​preventing the Gan family cuisine from being lost, Gan Guoyang learns to cook a famous dish from Gan Youwei every week.

Such a person was beyond Bernard King's imagination, but Gan Guoyang said, "I'm just rather naive."

Naïve? Kim doesn't think so. A naïve person wouldn't refuse UCLA. His decision not to go to UCLA is clearly due to considerations for his future career plans.

His maturity on the court is also quite formidable. After the CIF Championship in March, the Waterbell team went out to play several more games in the following months.

Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana – these games were sold out every time, demonstrating the Waterbell's influence across the country.

As far as Bernard King knew, the Water Clock team was undefeated, and Gan was known for his exceptional consistency during games—he almost never faltered. After the cyborg, people gave him another nickname: "ballast."

However, this nickname lacked any real impact. After being briefly mentioned by some media outlets, it disappeared without a trace, and few people remembered it.

"Bernard! Are you tired? You've been sitting for 20 minutes!" Gan Guoyang called out to Jin after seeing that he had been resting for a long time.

"Rest is just as important as training. You need to let your body recover so that your muscles can perform better."

"I'll have plenty of time to rest after I die. If you don't practice, I'll practice my long-range shooting more."

Gan Guoyang is like a tireless machine. While he enjoys the fun of training, he also uses it to catch up on his own learning.

He knew that all technical movements were only useful if they were developed into deep muscle memory; otherwise, they couldn't be performed in high-intensity competitions.

How are they formed? They are formed through repeated exposure, like stalactites in a cave, through the accumulation of minerals from water droplets over time.

"Gan, can't you take a break? I have something to tell you."

"You said it wouldn't interfere with my shooting, my hearing is perfectly fine."

"Okay, you're crazy. I'm asking you, if you're not going to UCLA, what are your plans?"

"I'm not going to Tennessee! Forget about it, the South is too hot."

"I know, I'm not trying to persuade you to go to Tennessee, I'm just concerned about you. I want to give you some advice. Do you want to stay in the Bay Area? The University of San Francisco is finished. Or do you want to stay in California? It's a great place, you don't want to leave once you come, there are so many good schools here, and the basketball atmosphere is top-notch..."

"Shh!"

Gan Guoyang made a long-range shot from 24 feet; he has never stopped training his shooting.

After scoring, he told King, "Bernard, I'm not staying in California. I have many options, but I want to leave."

Bernard King paused for a moment. He was still thinking about how to tell Gan Guoyang that being further away from home might be a good thing.

Unexpectedly, Gan Guoyang shared the same idea as him. Bernard King asked, "Can you tell me why? Don't say you're tired of it here. Nobody gets tired of California."

"Shh!"

Gan Guoyang sank another long-range shot. He took a breath and said, "Besides UCLA, I've also visited other schools in California to learn about their situations. They were all very enthusiastic, but I could sense that they didn't truly trust me. They didn't believe a Chinese player could perform as well in college basketball as they did in high school. I know college basketball is much harder than high school basketball; most high school players don't even make it to college. Their general assessment of me is that I'm a decent team player, a good bench player, at most a defensive anchor in the paint. Maybe I'll even have to be a backup for the seniors on the team, with limited playing time in my freshman year—that's how it is at top California universities. That's not what I want. Perhaps I can prove myself step by step in school and eventually become a core player, but I don't think I need to prove anything to them. I don't owe them anything. Please, I conquered California, and they only see me as a cog in the machine. I can be a cog in building a country, but not in basketball. I've already wasted too much time..."

As he spoke, Gan Guoyang took another shot, but this time it hit the rim and missed.

The arrogance displayed by Gan Guoyang surprised Bernard King, who had always remembered Gan as humble and polite.

Then he thought, which talented player isn't like Gan? Wasn't he himself like that back then?

"So, do you have a goal?"

“Mr. Karp contacted me yesterday and said that a school in Washington state was very interested in me. Their sports center director will meet with me tomorrow and said that if I agree, he will take me to visit the school for two days.”

Bernard King nodded and said, "That's the right way to treat talent. You have no idea how grand the welcome was for me at the University of Tennessee."

Jin was lost in his memories again, while Gan Guoyang picked up the ball and continued training.

(End of this chapter)